Against All Odds
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: Hunt and his team are sent on a mission in Ukraine and they're not too worried, until things get worse when Brandt suddenly becomes targeted by an old enemy from his past. The team fight to protect him, despite the danger to themselves.
1. Chapter 1

Against All Odds

Chapter One

The newly put together team of the IMF had been sent on a mission to steal back classified documents that had been stolen from the president of some big corporation, whose main branch was located in Hong Kong. Apparently, the man believed that the documents were safer in his home safe, rather than at his office. However, the man had been stupid enough to allow himself to be seduced by a pretty woman and thief, hired to steal the documents.

Ethan Hunt and the rest of his teammates had objected to the mission at first, until they were briefed on, who IMF had suspected was the man, who hired the thief, Nicholas Bishop; hacker, thief, and murderer. IMF had dealt with the man once before, but he had managed to escape and disappeared after killing one of IMF's own.

After coming back out into the open, Hunt and his team tracked him down and took out each of the men and women, whom Bishop had on his payroll and then finally went after the big guy, thanks to one of the hackers giving up his boss' hideout location. All in all, the mission had been a piece of cake, until they had come to taking Nicholas Bishop down. The thug was slippery.

"Where the hells are you, Benji?" Ethan shouted out into the com located in his ear to the team's computer tech as he was chasing after the man running hard in front of him toward China's border into North Korea. "I need your help to pin Bishop down! Any day now would be nice!"

"I'm working on getting control of the bridge," Benji replied quickly. "Just another second will do it."

Ethan continued to close in on Bishop as he shouted again, "If he crosses the border, we can't touch him and I am going to fire you if he gets away from us again. Do you hear me, Benji?"

Benji answered, "Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Keep your pants on."

Just as Nicholas was about to run across the bridge, Brandt suddenly came from nowhere and tackled their killer to the ground. However, the man was almost twice Brandt's size and in the struggle, they both went over the edge. Ethan lunged forward and managed to grab a hold of Brandt's hand just in time, before he fell into the lake below. Bishop held onto Brandt's legs and began to beg for them to bring him back up to the ground.

Jane managed to catch up to them in time to help Ethan pull Brandt and Bishop back up and just as they did so, the bridge began to rise up. Benji excitedly repeated over and over again that he did it, causing Ethan, Jane, and Brandt to laugh, as Ethan roughly pulled Bishop over onto his stomach and zip-tied his wrists together behind his back.

"What's so funny?" Benji asked. "I did what you wanted me to do."

"You're a little late, Benji," Ethan responded. "We got him; thanks to Will."

Brandt worked to catch his breath as he looked over at Ethan and said, "Next time, don't let the bad guy get a drop on you. Thanks, by the way."

Ethan replied, "No problem. Good work!"

Two nights later…

Ethan, Will, Jane, and Benji were all over at Benji's house. After being debriefed from their latest mission at the IMF headquarters, they all decided to have a barbecue and a few drinks to relax. Benji was dancing to the beat of the loud music as he stood around the grill cooking the steaks, while Jane lay on a raft in the pool. Will was sitting alone at one of the tables, drinking soda instead of beer like everyone else, until Ethan came over and sat down in a chair across from him.

"Is everything all right?" the team leader asked.

"I don't ever drink alcohol unless I need to, you know, for a case or something," Brandt answered nonchalantly. "I don't like the stuff."

Ethan nodded and replied, "I know about your father's temper and him beating you whenever he drank. I'm sorry, but that isn't what was referring to. Why aren't you joining in the party? Everyone else is relaxing and having a good time, except for you."

Brandt looked at Ethan in confusion as he responded, "I'm relaxing and having a good time. I'm fine, I promise."

"You can tell me anything, you know," Ethan said firmly. "Is this about the other night? I mean, you had a pretty close call when you went over the edge of the bridge tackling Bishop to the ground like you did."

"No, not at all," Will answered. "You were there just in time to save my life. Believe me, we've had closer calls than that. Remember when you stupidly tried to fly through the window back at the hotel in Dubai? You were lucky I was there to catch you, or you would be splattered like a bug on the ground."

Ethan laughed as he nodded and replied, "Yeah, that was pretty stupid, but I knew you'd be there for me."

Will responded, "No you didn't. You hardly knew me."

"I knew you enough," Ethan said. "I was right, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, you were right," Brandt answered as he took a sip of his root beer. "It's funny you bring up my father. The scumbag's just been released from prison on some technicality. If you ask me, he deserves to rot there for the rest of his life."

Ethan asked, "What put him there in the first place?"

Will looked away and then replied, "When I was twelve, my mother committed suicide. I wasn't real close to her because she never lifted a finger to stop my father from beating me and she always defended him to the cops when they came by after the neighbors called about the noise, but I understood that she was afraid of him and rightly so. After she died, he almost killed me. He was arrested for attempted murder, among other things. I don't care about what he did to me, but as far as I'm concerned, he killed her."

"I'm sorry, Will," Ethan responded. "If it makes you feel any better, my father was a real dirtbag too. Nothing compared to yours, but…"

"Thanks," Brandt said as he chuckled. "Do you think those steaks Benji's cooking are going to be any good by the time he's done with them? I think he's paying more attention to this lousy music."

Ethan shouted out, "Hey, Benji! How are the steaks coming along?"

Benji called back, "They are beautiful, my friend! Your taste buds will go change forever after one bite!"

"I'm a little afraid," Brandt replied as he and Ethan laughed until Ethan's phone suddenly rang.

"Hunt," the leader said as he answered his phone, then listened as his boss at IMF spoke. "You got it, Sir. We'll be ready."

Brandt looked at Ethan as he asked, "I take it, it's our next case?"

Ethan nodded and answered, "That's right! It looks like we're headed to Ukraine in the morning. We'll be briefed on our mission on the way."

"Which means we still have time to enjoy the evening," Jane said as she walked up from behind Ethan, picked up a beer from the table, walked over next to Benji, and then joined the tech in his dance.

Ethan and Will laughed as they watched their friends dance. Within a few minutes, Benji called out that the steaks were finally ready and as the computer tech had said, they were the best steaks any of them had ever had. It turns out that Benji was a great cook. However, he wasn't a great dancer, but the team had fun watching him try.


	2. Chapter 2

Against All Odds

Chapter Two

Around six o'clock the next morning, Ethan, Jane, Brandt, and Benji were all on a private jet that had been chartered and paid for by IMF, one of the few perks of the job, and on their way to Kiev, Ukraine. Once they were an hour into the flight, Ethan finally received a message from his boss, Theodore Brassel, briefing them on their newest mission.

As the video ended, Benji spoke up saying, "So, let me get this straight; we are heading to Kiev to rescue the son of some Russian civilian, who has agreed to come here to the United States to testify of a diplomat's various crimes he's committed in trying to become a psychotic dictator. The evil diplomat kidnapped and threatened to kill the sixteen year old boy unless the man changes his mind about testifying. Am I right? And if I am, why does this concern us?"

Ethan answered, "Because, if Andrei Vasiliy becomes the leader in Kiev, he will gain access to several missiles and IMF has reason to believe that he will use them to make a large attack against our country. We have intercepted numerous tapes and messages showing that Vasiliy has a deep hatred for us. Our civilian, Ivan Piotr, somehow has viable evidence that will bring Vasiliy down for good, but refuses to give it to us, unless we rescue his son, Fyedka."

"How do we know that his son is even still alive?" Benji asked. "Is there any proof?"

"Ivan has been updated on his son's condition two times a day since he has been taken three days ago," Ethan responded. "Ivan is set to testify in two days at noon. Vasiliy and his men will keep him alive until then, not giving us much time to plan a rescue."

Brandt spoke up saying, "Andrei Vasiliy is smart, cautious, and as Benji said, psychotic. He and the kid won't be easy to find or take down."

Ethan turned to Brandt and replied, "Which is why we're the ones who have been called in to complete this mission; because we're the best."

"If I had a beer in my hand right now, I would drink to that, but I guess this bottled water will have to do," Benji said.

"Here, here," Ethan responded as he held up his own water bottle, followed by Will and Jane, and together they clinked them together as a toast to their team's success.

By the time they landed at a private airport in Kiev more than twelve hours later, the teammates had done as much research on Vasiliy and his known associates as they could. In doing so, they discovered that the man was growing frustrated after failing multiple times to secure himself as Kiev's leader. He wasn't popular enough to win the election by vote, so he worked to get in through crime and terrorist acts, though the country's government, nor the CIA, have yet been able to tie him to the crimes, until Piotr stepped forward with the evidence needed. Now, it was IMF's turn and Ethan Hunt had a plan.

Before he got into explaining his plan, Jane asked, "How did a civilian manage to get his hands on the proof we need to take Vasiliy down?"

Will answered, "Ivan Piotr isn't exactly a civilian. He was Vasiliy's secretary so to speak. The man has no weapon training, nor did he help to do any of the dirty work, but Vasiliy has a need to keep records of his dealings and actions in order to keep everything straight. Piotr was that record keeper, until his conscience got in the way. He got out with the records, but his son was taken before he could hand them over. Now he's refusing to unless we save the boy. I was briefed this morning."

"Ok, so what exactly is our plan here?" Benji asked.

"The election is coming up in less than a week," Ethan responded. "We won't be here that long, but Brandt's going to go to him as an analyst, with an opportunity to rig the election in Vasiliy's favor, that he can't refuse. However, the information will be completely worthless. He just won't figure that out until we're gone with Piotr's son. That means Brandt, that it will be your job to get the scumbag to trust you and to find out the kid's location. Hopefully, Vasiliy will bring you right to him."

Brandt looked over at the team leader in confusion as he asked, "Why do I have to be the one to go into the lion's den?"

Ethan replied, "Because you're the analyst of our group and the only one with the right smarts to pull this off. Don't worry; we'll have your back."

"And why would he trust an American for help?" Brandt asked again. "He hates us, remember?"

"As I said, you need to convince him you're a friend," Ethan answered.

Benji responded, "You can convince him you're betraying your country because you've been wrongly accused of treason and we crucified you on top of trying to send you to prison for the rest of your life, but you were lucky enough to escape and flee the states."

Jane continued, "Now you're angry and willing to give your services for the right amount of money."

"All of this is easy for you to say," Will replied sarcastically. "You're not the ones sticking your necks out."

"Jane and I will be working on taking out the man's associates, while Benji keeps his eyes and ears open for you," Ethan said. "You can do this, Brandt."

Will chuckled and answered, "You know, it's times like these that makes me wish I never became an analyst in the first place."

Jane responded, "If you didn't, you wouldn't be a part of this team."

"I think I would live a lot longer if I wasn't," Will retorted sarcastically.

"That's probably true," Ethan said. "But I've been with IMF for a really long time and I'm still kicking. And I take care of my friends."

Benji asked, "Against all odds?"

Ethan looked at each one of them and then answered solemnly, "Against all odds."


	3. Chapter 3

Against All Odds

Chapter Three

Brandt spent the next few hours alone in his hotel room so that he could put together some kind of convincing cover, while the others worked on putting together the technical side of the operation. Before too long, a knock came to Brandt's door and when the younger agent opened it, Ethan was standing on the other side. Will invited him in, then once again sat in front of his computer on the bed and continued his work.

Ethan was the first to speak up saying, "Benji and Jane both went back to their rooms over an hour ago to get some sleep. You should do the same."

Will responded, "If you want me to pull this off, I still have some work to do."

"You need sleep too, or are you avoiding it because you're having trouble doing so?" the team leader asked. "I know that you tried on the plane like the rest of us, but…"

"It has nothing to do with my father," Brandt answered quickly. "It's actually this mission. It's my job to find out where Vasiliy is keeping Piotr's son and once I do, I need to make sure he is safe. It's another protection mission and even though I know that your wife is alive now, it still doesn't make this any easier. The truth is, I still failed the last time. You had to save her yourself. I'm having trouble readjusting to being a field agent again."

Ethan nodded and then replied, "I thought you might be. You're an excellent agent, Brandt. I trust you completely, as do Jane and Benji. Even Luther likes you and he doesn't like people easily. You can do this; much better than the rest of us ever could. Your skills as an agent and as an analyst are some of the best I've ever seen. Ever since our first mission together, the team's been unbeatable."

Brandt responded, "I appreciate your confidence in me."

"Good, now get some sleep or 'I'll knock you out," Ethan said as he got up from the bed and walked toward the door.

"All right," Brandt chuckled and answered. "Thank you, Ethan."

As Ethan left the room, he called back, "No problem!"

The next day, Brandt walked into a small Russian restaurant and took a seat at a table next to a window, in plain sight of the rest of his team's vantage points; each of them wearing ear coms so that they could speak to each other. IMF discovered that one of Vasiliy's head associates owned the restaurant and that Vasiliy himself was a frequent visitor. The team's plan was for Will to walk into the restaurant, order lunch for himself, and wait for the man to arrive. Then, he was to wait for the right opportunity to move in.

Brandt sat there for forty-five minutes before their target finally walked in, followed by two bodyguards. The men cautiously observed the other patrons inside the restaurant, which were only Brandt and two other couples. They observed the two couples were talking quietly amongst themselves as they ate and that Brandt was on his computer, appearing to be pulled into whatever it was he was looking at. When they saw they were of no threat to them, Vasiliy and his men sat down at a table beside the restaurant's owner and began to talk business. Little did they realize, the IMF team was listening in, thanks to the bug Benji had placed on Brandt.

Unfortunately, nothing was said between the men that gave them any clues on the whereabouts of Piotr's son. However, they were talking about the upcoming election and after hearing that he was more behind in the votes than he had originally suspected, Vasiliy became angry and threw his full wine glass across the room, making his associates cringe. Brandt saw this as his opening as he stood from his table and slowly walked up behind Vasiliy.

"Excuse me, Mr. Vasiliy, I couldn't help but overhear your frustration over the latest results in the coming election," Brandt said calmly.

"It's all right, gentlemen," Vasiliy ordered with a deep Russian accent as his bodyguards quickly stood to get rid of the undercover agent. "I do not take too well to strangers inviting themselves into my affairs."

Will replied, "Well, I know who you are; Andrei Vasiliy, Kiev's next possible leader and hopeful to one day become leader of all Russia. My name is Jason Raines; ex crime and intelligence analyst of the CIA. Now we're no longer strangers."

Vasiliy smiled and responded, "You have guts, Mr. Raines. I must say, I admire that. What exactly is it that you want to speak with me about?"

"I would like to make a proposal," Will answered. "As an ex analyst for the CIA, I know all about you, Mr. Vasiliy, but don't worry. I am not here to blackmail you or to trick you into giving up any information I can use to extradite you back to the states so we can arrest you. When I said ex, it isn't because I quit. I was fired after I tried to tell them I found evidence of a major attack planned against the United States, but they didn't believe me, as they did not see what I saw. Then, after I went to the press in order to get them to listen to what I had to say, they crucified me and accused me of treason. However, I managed to escape the country and I ran here to Asia to hide. If you don't believe me, you can find out for yourself. You must have your way to check up on my story. When you see that I'm telling the truth, I want to get together with you to help you to win the election. I can make it happen and when I do, you will pay me ten million dollars."

"I take it back," Vasiliy said as he chuckled. "You don't just have guts. You are one of the craziest people I've met. I do not trust easily, especially Americans, as I am sure you know."

Brandt asked, "How badly do you really want to win?"

Before Vasiliy could answer, they were interrupted as an unexpected surprised walked through the door and Benji called out over the coms, "Wait a minute? Isn't that Fyedka Piotr, who just walked into the restaurant by his own willpower?"

"It appears that he isn't the victim we all thought he was," Ethan replied. "Stay in position."

"Andrei!" the young boy shouted as he walked over to the table angrily. "Dimitri has just explained to me that you are threatening to kill me if my father refuses to back down from testifying against you. Is this true? Do you really wish to kill me?"

Vasiliy responded, "Of course not, Fyedka. Your father does not know that you have run away and come to me of your own free will. I only want to use this to our advantage. By faking your kidnapping, he will eventually back down and we will all be free to continue fighting for what we want for our country. I promise you, you have no reason to fear me, My Friend."

Fyedka nodded and answered, "I do trust you, but I do not trust Dimitri. He looks at me like I am garbage."

"Do not fear him," Andrei replied. "Dimitri does nothing without my approval."

Just then, another unexpected guest walked in that suddenly caused Brandt to grow cold, as he recognized the man walking into the restaurant and knew that in any minute his cover was about to be blown. It wasn't long after the newcomer walked up to Vasiliy and shook his hand that he looked over at him, then grinned as he suddenly pulled a gun out from his jacket and pointed it directly at Brandt. When Ethan, Benji, and Jane saw that their teammate was in trouble from their vantage points, the three of them quickly ran out into the open and toward the restaurant in hope of rescuing their friend in time, before the man took him out.


	4. Chapter 4

Against All Odds

Chapter Four

Just as the newcomer was about to fire at Brandt, the agent calmly said to his teammates over his com, "Stand down."

It was then that Vasiliy placed his hand over his friend's gun and slowly pushed it down, as his other men raised their guns and trained them on Brandt, while the leader looked at Brandt and asked, "Are you ordering my friend to stand down? It appears that the two of you know each other. Who are you really?"

Both Ethan and Jane stopped their charge as they listened to Brandt's request, but they waited on both sides of the restaurant's entrance with their guns drawn and cautiously observed the scene inside through the windows. None of the city's civilians paid attention to them, as they all knew the kind of men that were inside.

Benji had concealed himself on the roof of the building next door, as there were two guards positioned on the restaurant's roof, but when he saw and heard that Brandt was in trouble, he bolted from his hiding place and quickly took the men out with his tranquilizer gun. Once he did, he waited above the skylight and looked down at his friend and the men that surrounded him, until Ethan gave further orders.

"If you want to know, who I really am, ask Dimitri here," Brandt finally answered somberly after a long pause. "He knows."

"His name is William Brandt," Dimitri replied smugly. "And he doesn't work for the CIA. He works for IMF."

Vasiliy looked over at his friend and asked, "You mean your old agency? Isn't this an interesting coincidence that the two of you should be reunited once again? Explain to me why you are really here, Agent Brandt."

Will remained silent as Dimitri responded for him, "He must be here on a mission to take you down, My Friend. Which means, there are more agents around here somewhere; am I right, Will?"

Brandt remained silent and it was then that Ethan gave the order to charge in, as he and Jane crashed through the windows firing their weapons, while Vasiliy's men fired back. Both Vasiliy and Fyedka took cover behind the bar as the fight broke out, but poked their heads out in order to keep watch. Benji used a rock to break the skylight and then jumped down on top of one of the bigger bodyguards to help Brandt as they grabbed a hold of him, using the thug to break his fall. Once Brandt was free, he quickly moved in to fight Dimitri as he was about to shoot Ethan, who had his back to him as the team leader fought two of the other guards.

Brandt managed to disarm the ex IMF agent, but Dimitri was a stronger fighter and within a few minutes had Will in pinned down with a dagger against his throat after he broke a glass bottle across the back of his head. Will was conscious and continued to struggle, but Dimitri's grasp was strong and he was slowly growing weaker. However, Jane suddenly kneed him in the side of the head, knocking him off of Brandt and to the ground.

Ethan ran over and helped Brandt to his feet, but as the four members of the IMF team were about to escape the restaurant out the back, Brandt caught sight of Fyedka and quickly rushed over and pulled the boy to his feet, shoved him into his friends' arms, then pointed a gun directly at Vasiliy's head.

"You're coming with us as well so that we can hand you over to the authorities," Brandt said angrily.

"I suggest you do as our friend says," Ethan added as he, Benji, and Jane fired toward the rest of the men as they tried to charge them until they saw Vasiliy step up and Brandt pull the wannabe dictator out in front of him for cover. "Order your men to stand down, or they'll be without a boss. Do it now!"

Vasiliy quickly shouted, "Do as they said! Lower your weapons, now!"

Dimitri finally moved out in front of the leader's men and glared at Brandt as he called out, "If you think you will make it out of this country, you are sorely mistaken, Will. We will get Andrei and the boy back and I will kill you as well. If your friends get in the way, their lives will be on your head."

"Ethan, Will, we need to get out of here now," Benji said urgently. "More of Vasiliy's men will be here shortly and we won't stand a chance."

"Let's move!" Ethan ordered as he shoved Andrei toward Jane, then pulled on Brandt to get him moving, as he was more focused on Dimitri.

Benji pulled out a smoke bomb from his jacket and pulled out the pin as he tossed it toward their attackers, so that they could escape under the smoke's cover. Ethan ran out into the street and in front of an oncoming car, ordered the driver to get out as he pointed his gun at the man, and then the team sped off after they quickly shoved both Vasiliy and Fyedka into the trunk. Dimitri and another one of the bodyguards tried to get shots off, but only managed to break the back window.

Once he was sure that they were clear, Ethan looked toward Brandt, who was in the passenger's seat, and asked, "Are you all right?"

Brandt was holding his hand over the back of his head as he quietly answered, "I'm fine; a bit dizzy, but I'm fine."

"You're hardly fine," Jane replied as she sat up and moved his hand away to look at the wound. "There's a good size gash and it's bleeding pretty good. We need to get back to the hotel so we can get the supplies we need to patch you up."

"What about our stuff we left behind?" Benji asked surprisingly. "My computer's still back up on the roof where I originally set up cover."

Jane looked over at the tech as she continued holding the back of Brandt's head and glared at him while she responded, "It's gone now. We've got two more at the hotel."

Ethan kept looking toward Brandt as he noticed that his friend's hands were shaking and watched him as he squeezed his eyes closed to help with the pain, then suddenly he smacked his hand hard against the dashboard and angrily cried out, "Dang it! He was dead. There is no way he…"

"Who exactly is he?" Ethan interrupted. "We know that he was once an IMF agent, but what happened between the two of you?"

"Dimitri was an old partner, but after working with him for over two years, I discovered that he was dirty," Brandt answered in frustration. "He was selling government secrets to the highest bidders. I gathered the evidence and brought it to the Secretary, but he ran. I eventually caught up to him and we fought until he was about to kill me, when another agent on my team snuck up on him from behind and shot him in the back. He collapsed on top of me and after I crawled out from under him, I felt for a pulse. He was dead. There was blood… I can't explain how he's here now."

Benji asked, "Well, after the fight, what happened? I mean, what happened to his body?"

Will pulled Jane's hands away from his head and moved forward as he replied, "A cleaning crew came in and took his body away. I was debriefed on what happened by the Secretary, given a pat on the back for a job well done, and I never heard anymore of incident. Up until now, I believed it was behind me. Our mission is ruined and it is all my fault!"

"This was not your fault, Brandt," Ethan responded firmly. "None of us knew that a ghost from your past would come out of the shadows. And besides, all isn't lost. We have Piotr's son and we have Vasiliy himself. We just need to get him to the proper authorities, then we can get home to hand the kid back to his father so that he will testify. We did good. You did good."

"Uh, not to sound cynical, but you did hear Dimitri back there when he claimed that he would not let us get out of this city, didn't you?" Benji asked.

Both Jane and Ethan glared at the team's tech this time until Brandt answered, "Benji's right. This was too easy. As long as…"

Benji cut him off as he retorted, "You call what we just did easy?"

"What I mean is that he is going to do whatever it takes stop us from completing our mission," Will stated. "And he's a very clever and skilled agent, as you saw. He doesn't care at all about Vasiliy or the kid, but he does care about getting paid for his services. That, and he cares about revenge. I just made each of you a target as long as you fight to protect me."

"If you're asking us to abandon you and let you take care of him yourself, Brandt, you can forget about it," Ethan said firmly. "As I've said, we protect our team and I protect my friends."

"Ethan…" Brandt began to say until Jane cut him off once again as she went back to taking care of the nasty gash in his head until they could get back to the hotel.

She responded, "Ethan's right. Don't worry, everything's going to be all right."

Will looked back at her and answered, "I wish I could believe that."

"So do I," Benji grumbled as everyone turned to glare at him again. "Sorry, I mean, of course I believe everything's going to be all right. Why wouldn't it be? We're unbeatable."

"Of course we are," Ethan replied as he smiled. "Besides, we may not be able to get out as easily as I hoped, but that doesn't mean we can't call others in. It's time to call in for a little help. I'm sure Luther will be happy to get called away."


	5. Chapter 5

Against All Odds

Chapter Five

As they arrived back at the hotel, Ethan, Jane, and Benji quickly ran up to their rooms and gathered up all of their gear they had left behind, while Brandt stayed behind in the car with their prisoners, who were still inside the trunk. Even though they were safe at the hotel for the time being, they weren't willing to take any chances that Dimitri and the rest of Vasiliy's men would track them down there. When the next fight broke out, which they knew would come, they did not want to risk any civilians getting hurt.

As soon as they made it back to the car, Ethan continued driving to a remote location, where they hoped that they would not be found so easily, while Jane pulled out their first aid kit and began to work on patching up the gash on Will's head. The blood had slowed down a bit, but the wound didn't look real good.

As she finished, Jane spoke up saying, "I put a bandage over the wound for now, but as soon as we get to wherever it is we're going, I'm going to have to put in a few stitches. Your friend got you pretty good."

Will kept quiet, as they noticed that he appeared to be deep in his own thoughts, when Ethan gently placed his hand on Brandt's shoulder to shake him out of it and said, "You're all set for now. Are you sure you're all right."

"Sorry," Brandt quickly answered. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've got a headache, but that's nothing a few aspirins can't cure."

"And a few stitches," Jane repeated now that he was back with them. "He hit you pretty hard. You're lucky the wound isn't more severe."

Brandt chuckled as he responded quietly, "I've got a thick skull.

Benji replied, "I don't have a thick skull. I'm glad it was you, who got hit and not me. I mean... You know what I mean. Of course I don't like that you got hurt, Buddy."

"So, where exactly are we going?" Jane asked as she looked over at Ethan.

"There's an old abandoned factory, far out of the way, where no one else besides us, or our enemies, can get hurt in our next fight should they find us," Ethan answered as he looked back at her through the rearview mirror. "It should give us plenty of time for us to come up with our next game plan."

About fifteen minutes later, the team arrived at their newest headquarters. Benji and Jane set up their gear, while Will and Ethan worked to drag both Vasiliy and Fyedka inside and chained them up to a post in separate rooms. That way, they could talk to them without any interference from the other.

While Jane finally worked on stitching up Brandt and Benji found a seat and began to work on finding out what Dimitri was up to, Ethan grabbed a chair, placed it in front of Fyedka, and starred at the kid until he finally said, "I have to say, Kid, I wasn't expecting to find you so soon, let alone in such a healthy condition."

Fyedka glared at Ethan and responded, "I don't know what you're talking about. Who are you?"

"Who we are doesn't matter anymore," the team leader replied. "Your father hired us to come here to Kiev to rescue you because he was under the impression that you had been kidnapped in order to keep him from testifying against Vasiliy. It turns out, that you willingly went to the scumbag because you like his politics and hate that your father is trying to destroy him. Now, we know that the kidnapping plot wasn't your idea from your brief conversation back at the restaurant, but either way, we are bringing you back to your father, he is going to testify, and Vasiliy is going to pay for the lives he's destroyed. My question for you is, why on earth would you want a merciless dictator, as evil as Hitler, running your country?"

"You wouldn't understand," the boy answered. "My own father never did. Why would four Americans?"

Ethan stood from the chair, headed toward the doorway to leave, and then said, "You're probably right. I wouldn't understand, but then again, I wouldn't want to. Scream if you want, but there's no one around for miles. I suggest you keep still and quiet; for your own good."

When he walked back out into the main room where Jane had just finished with taking care of Brandt, she looked over at Ethan and asked, "Did he tell you why he's working with that psychopath? He's just a kid."

"Unfortunately in countries like Russia, kids have to be older than what they really are in order to survive or to feel like that what they believe in matters," Ethan responded.

"What's tragic is that a lot of them choose to do things like the kid in there," Brandt added. "Not all of them, but more than what you'd like to believe."

It was then that Benji suddenly spoke up eagerly saying, "Uh, guys? We've got a problem."

Ethan asked, "What is it, Benji?"

"I'm afraid that we're now wanted by the police force here for shooting up the restaurant, for murder of several citizens, kidnapping, and espionage," the tech replied nervously. "I mean, we may have done three of those things, but it appears that Dimitri and Vasiliy's men exaggerated the charges immensely in order to make us the most wanted criminals throughout Kiev, maybe even Russia."

"We knew that he was going to do something to prevent us from leaving the country," Ethan said as he smiled. "Why do you think I called in for back up?"

Jane and Benji smiled at Ethan and then looked over toward Brandt, who they saw was not in the same frame of mind as he carefully read over the charges against them and looked at their wanted pictures on Benji's computer. A minute later, he suddenly straightened up, angrily punched his left fist into the wall, creating a large hole, and finally stormed out of the room to be alone for awhile. Both Jane and Benji looked down to the ground sadly and then looked back up at their leader for a little guidance on what their next move should be.

Ethan answered, "For now, we wait for our friends to arrive. In the meantime, we need to give Brandt some space so that he can think. He'll be all right."

About three and a half hours later, the second IMF team arrived and when they walked inside where he, Jane, and Benji were talking quietly, Luther spoke up as he said, "It's good to have a chance to work with you again, My Man. It has been too long."

"I agree," Ethan responded as he shook the big man's hand. "It's good to see you guys again. Benji, Jane, you two know Luther. These other two great agents here are Zhen Lei and Declan Gormley. Guys, you already know Benji of course and this is Agent Jane Carter. Agent Will Brandt is with us too, but he wanted to be left alone for awhile. He blames himself for what's happened."

"Our worst enemy is someone from his past," Benji replied.

The three of them went on to explain their mission and everything that's happened so far, then finally, Ethan stated firmly, "None of this is Brandt's fault, but until we complete our mission, clear our names, and find a way to bring down Dimitri for him, he isn't going to see it that way. Dimitri wants to kill Will and he's afraid that we'll all go down because of him. No matter what, we need to protect him, even if that means we protect him from himself."


	6. Chapter 6

Against All Odds

Chapter Six

After he couldn't take staying inside any longer, Brandt stepped out of the factory to take a walk in order to clear his head. Later that night, Brandt finally came back into the main room carrying food, which he had gotten from a local food vender selling some kind of Russian cuisine out of a cart on the side of the road they had passed coming in.

Ethan looked at his friend and said, "You know, you shouldn't have risked going out into public. Not for anything."

Brandt nodded and replied, "Yes, I do know, but don't worry. This guy's food cart wasn't anywhere near where someone could recognize me. I needed to clear my head and being cooped up in here, wasn't helping."

"Well, thanks for the food," Ethan answered. "Brandt, you remember Luther. Meet Agents Zhen Lei and Declan Gormley. Guys, this is Agent Will Brandt."

"It's a pleasure," Declan responded with an even stronger British accent than Benji's. "Ethan told us about your analyst skills; very impressive."

Will replied, "Thanks. I've heard about your work as well. All of you."

Benji came up between Brandt and Declan as he asked, "You didn't happen to see any American food on your walk, did you Brandt? It's not that I am not grateful for food that is more than the granola bars and the powder tasting garbage we brought with us, but this stuff is going to give me heartburn."

Ethan laughed at his friend and said, "Just eat it and be happy, Benji. It's pretty good. You can take something for the heartburn later."

Brandt turned to Ethan and asked, "Have you spoken with Vasiliy yet? Have you gotten anything out of him that we can use to find Dimitri and the rest of his men? How did we not know he worked for Vasiliy in the first place? We should have…"

"Just take it easy, Will," Ethan answered. "Benji tracked down every known associate to Vasiliy, but for whatever reason, there was, or is, no paper trail that shows Dimitri is on his payroll. There was no way we could have known he was involved. Luther and I both tried to speak with Vasiliy, but he won't talk, at least not to us. He said the only person we'll speak with is you."

"He wants to talk with me?" Brandt asked in surprise. "I can't do that. If I go in there, I'll only manage to piss him off and then we'll get nowhere. Why does he want to talk with me?"

Benji responded, "I imagine it's because you made quite the impression on him when you kidnapped him at gunpoint."

Ethan agreed as he replied, "Benji's probably right. I know that you can find out what we need to know, Brandt. You were an analyst. You know when he's lying because you can read people. You can also control your temper better than I can."

"I know that to be true for sure," Luther cut in.

"All right," Brandt finally answered as he and Ethan walked away from the rest of the group and stopped outside the door to the room where Vasiliy was chained up.

Ethan spoke up saying, "Just don't allow this scumbag to bait you. I have no doubt that he'll try."

Will was about to go in until he stopped, turned to face Ethan, and asked, "Why do you have so much faith in me, Ethan. I mean, I am just like any other IMF agent; nothing special, but this time, I've ruined our entire mission, just like before in Croatia."

"You really need to learn to forgive yourself," Ethan said. "I trust you because you are a valuable member of this team and you've proved it over and over. You didn't ruin anything on this mission, Brandt. As I've told you before, Dimitri showing up is not your fault and the mission is still going on, but for your information, we've got Vasiliy because of you. Now all we have to do is find Dimitri and the rest of Vasiliy's men, bring them down, and get home."

"Is that all?" Brandt asked sarcastically as he and Ethan began to laugh. "I will find out what we need to know."

Ethan nodded and then Brandt finally turned and walked inside the room. As he did, Andrei Vasiliy looked up from his seat and grinned when he saw that it was Brandt coming in to talk to him. Brandt only starred at their prisoner as he circled around him, until he finally stopped in front of the man.

Vasiliy was the first to speak as he asked, "So, who exactly are you, Agent Will Brandt? I mean, other than being an IMF agent and ex- partner of my good friend. Dimitri didn't get a chance to tell me about you before your friends out there interrupted our conversation."

Brandt answered, "Who I am doesn't matter. I didn't come here to chat. I want to know how you know Dimitri Romanov and why our tech wasn't able to find him on your payroll."

"Perhaps it's because your technician is incompetent," Vasiliy responded. "Dimitri is actually family; my nephew, but his father disowned him and I took him in. I just had to keep it quiet, as his father and I were in business together. Once my brother was killed, Dimitri became my right hand, but off the books. He was the one, who came up with the idea to join IMF, one of the most powerful agencies in the world, so that we would have access to all kinds of secrets. That was, until you, Agent Brandt, apparently brought him down. I had my men fake his death to save his life."

"I realize you're telling me all this because you think your nephew and the rest of your men are going to kill me and the rest of my friends and then rescue you, so that you can continue your plan to become dictator, but I'm telling you, you're wrong," Will stated firmly. "You're finished, Andrei."

The man responded, "I'm afraid you're the one who's wrong, My Friend. Your friends are going to die and then Dimitri will be able to have his fun killing you. He'll be very happy about that."


	7. Chapter 7

Against All Odds

Chapter Seven

Meanwhile…

Fyedka sat alone, still bound, in the dark room he had been put into ever since they had arrived at wherever it was they were. He was hungry and he was uncomfortable, but he was grateful to at least be out of the trunk of the car that he and his boss had been shoved into back when they had first been kidnapped.

As the boy tried to think about ways to escape, the door suddenly opened and in walked the woman on the team he saw inside the restaurant, followed by another woman, whom he thought was even more beautiful. In their hands, he saw that they were carrying something and from the smell, he assumed they were finally bringing him some food.

The woman, who walked in behind the woman he had already seen, was the first to speak up as she said to the other, "So, this is the young man, whose father hired us to bring him back home? Why is he in here and tied up to the post? Certainly he can't eat like this."

Jane responded, "He's here because he isn't as innocent as we thought he'd be and he hasn't been very cooperative, but I realize we can't starve him either, or his father will never pay us what he promised. Would you like some food and something to drink, Fyedka?"

"Who are you guys and why should I help you when you do this to me?" the boy asked in frustration.

"My name is Lei," the Asian woman answered. "And this is my friend, Jane. We promise that we just want to do what is best for everyone. Your father loves you and he wants you to come back to him."

Fyedka replied as he finally took the food and bottle of water from the women and began to eat, "My father couldn't care less about me. All he cares about is work and his hate for a good man. He always ignored me."

Jane spoke up saying, "It may have seemed that way to you, Fyedka, but we both know for a fact that your father truly loves you. Why do you think that he asked us to bring you home? Do you really think he would have bothered if he didn't? This good man you speak of is evil and he has put so many thoughts into your head, that you do not know what is true anymore. He has confused you by twisting your father's motives around."

"Also, your father has refused to testify against Vasiliy, unless you are brought home to him safely," Zhen added. "He won't risk losing you."

"Vasiliy must be brought down in order to save your people," Jane continued. "Do you really want what happened under Hitler's rule to happen all over again here in Russia? Because it will, if Vasiliy is elected."

Fyedka shook his head and responded, "Andrei is not that bad. He would not hurt his own people. Dimitri on the other hand is. I hate him. I do not understand why Andrei trusts him so much."

Jane answered, "Dimitri is Andrei's right hand man. They are in this together. If you tell us how we can find Dimitri and the rest of Vasiliy's men, we can stop them and save you from becoming one of them."

"That is what is going to happen if you stay with them and refuse to help us, Fyedka," Zhen replied. "You will become evil just like them if you allow them to manipulate you and that is exactly what they're doing. Please, help us put a stop to them, so that you can go home to your father and live the life that you really want to live."

"I trusted Andrei," the boy said sadly as he looked down. "I really thought he was my friend. I am not sure where Dimitri is right now, but there are a few places I know of. Andrei owns a large estate, which is where he and the rest of his friends stay. Chances are, if Dimitri isn't there, then he will be at this bar downtown Kiev, where he plays pool and gambles often. It is his favorite hangout spot."

Jane responded sincerely, "Thank you, so much, Fyedka. You have been a big help to us and your father would be very proud of you."

As they left the room and walked back out to where the others were waiting for them, Ethan asked, "Did the kid give you anything?"

"He gave us two possible locations," Zhen answered. "One is an estate on the other side of town and the other is a bar downtown where Dimitri hangs out a lot gambling and playing pool with his thugs. They both sound probable. The question is, how are we going to do this?"

"We're going to have to split up," Brandt replied as he walked out from his interrogation with Vasiliy. "Vasiliy wasn't much help, as I suspected. If we're going to find out which location Dimitri is at, then it'd be best to do it at the same time, so that he won't have time to run should he be at the other location when he learns of the attack."

Ethan nodded as he said, "Brandt's right. It's the smartest move. Luther, I want you, Declan, and Zhen to head to the estate and take out any of Vasiliy's men, who are there. Surveillance the place first and if Dimitri's there, I want you to call me right away. We will have to take him down together."

Benji asked," I take it this means that the rest of us are going into the bar downtown? Isn't that going to be dangerous? I mean, as soon as they see us, we are either going to be shot on sight by Vasiliy's men, or we are going to be arrested by the police for terrorism."

"Which is why we will not be going in as ourselves," Ethan responded as he smiled. "Brandt, Jane, and I will be going in wearing masks, while you Benji, will stay in the van the others drove up in and watch everything on your computer. We'll all be wearing wires and cameras. If trouble erupts, you can rush in and help us."

"Perfect," the technician answered glumly. "And who exactly will you guys be going in as? Please tell me, that you do not hope to go in as Vasiliy himself, Ethan? I mean, how would you explain to his men how you managed to escape?"

After a moment, Brandt suddenly spoke up saying, "What if we were to use me as bait?"

Ethan shook his head and replied, "No way. We're not going to risk your life to bring him down."

"We're already risking my life to bring Dimitri down," Will said firmly. "We're all risking our lives, as we do every mission. We don't know if the bar owner allows other patrons inside while Dimitri, Vasiliy, and their men are there. I say, have Luther, Zhen, and Declan surveillance the estate and if Dimitri isn't there, have them leave and join us at the bar. If he is, we'll just move our plan there instead. They can wait out in the van with Benji and then come in when the fight breaks out."

"But again, how is Ethan, as Vasiliy, supposed to explain how he escaped from us?" Benji asked.

Ethan responded, "Vasiliy can say that he managed to get himself loose from his bonds, jumped our technician and stole his gun, snuck up on Brandt and knocked him unconscious, and finally used him as leverage against us to escape after he hired a few local gang members near where he was being held to help him get out with Brandt as his prisoner. Luther, you and Zhen will be our thugs. I don't like this plan, it's risky, especially for you, Brandt, because there's a chance that Dimitri will see right through us since he was once one of us, but I don't see we have much of a choice."

Brandt answered solemnly, "I want to do this, Ethan. I'll be just fine."

"What about Fyedka?" Jane asked. "Dimitri will be suspicious if we come in without him."

"You can say that you shot him in your escape so that he would no longer be a threat against him," Benji replied.

Ethan nodded and finally responded, "Very well, we've got ourselves a plan. Let's get to work."

As everyone walked off to prepare, Brandt walked over to Benji and said, "I'm going to need a little help, Benji. If I'm going to pull off being a captive, who was attacked and knocked unconscious, then I'm going to need to look like it. You wouldn't happen to have any of your fake blood, do you?"

"It just so happens that I do," Benji answered as he smiled. "That's a brilliant idea."


	8. Chapter 8

Against All Odds

Chapter Eight

Inside Vasiliy's estate…

It was late at night and Dimitri was standing outside on one of the balconies looking out over the town. He and the men had been searching all day for Brandt and the rest of the team that had come to Kiev to bring down his uncle and now him. However, after their escape from them at the restaurant, they seemed to have disappeared. Dimitri expected that from an IMF team. He knew exactly how IMF operated. He knew how Will Brandt operated. He just didn't know what to expect from the other individuals with him.

The ex operative still couldn't believe that after four years, he had run into his old partner again. When they worked together, they were good friends, as many operatives tended to be, since they didn't ever have time to go out and meet other people. When Will had discovered that he was a traitor, Dimitri tried to get him to join him, but he should have known that the younger man was too much of a straight arrow.

The moment he saw that he was either going to prison for the rest of his life, or that he was going to die because of Brandt, he immediately hated the man. After his uncle's friends helped him to escape from IMF by faking his death, he hoped that he would one day get the chance to make Brandt pay and now he had the chance. He wasn't going to let it slip by him.

As he was deep in thought, one of his men came up behind him and quietly said, "I'm afraid the last group just came back empty handed and so far, the police have come up with nothing as well. There's no sign of the kidnappers. What if Andrei is dead?"

Dimitri looked back at the man and answered, "He isn't dead. That is not how these men work. All they want is to turn him into their agency and bring the boy home to his father. They are here in Kiev somewhere. Even their skills and friends cannot help them out now with the charges we have brought up against them. It's only a matter of time before we catch them and we will. Just be sure to tell your men that Will Brandt is mine to deal with. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir," the man replied.

"Good," Dimitri responded. "Now leave. We'll pick up the search first thing in the morning."

Back at the factory…

The next morning, the two teams were just finishing putting together everything they needed in order to put their plan into action. The masks were finished, their coms were in working order, and their miniature cameras, so that Benji could keep his eyes on them, were sewn onto their clothes. All that needed to be done was for Benji to apply the blood to Brandt's face and for Ethan to get Vasiliy to say the words needed so that the voice patch placed on his throat would sound like the monster and not himself.

The team leader walks back in the room with Vasiliy, holds up a card in front of him, and firmly said, "You will read the words on this card now because if you don't, I will put a bullet in your foot. If you continue to refuse, I will continue to shoot. Do I make myself clear?"

Vasiliy answered, "You won't really shoot me. You are not a monster like you claim that I am."

"You're right," Ethan replied as he pulled out his gun and fired a round into his foot as he said he would do. "But I will do whatever is necessary to make sure we accomplish our mission and to protect my team. Now, read this card slowly."

"The pleasure of Buzby's company is what I most enjoy," Andrei began to read as he knew that his captor meant what he said. "He put a tack on Miss Yancy's chair, when she called him a horrible boy. At the end of the month, he was flinging two kittens, across the width of the room. I counted on his schemes to reveal the way to escape my gloom. What does that even mean?"

Ethan put the card and his gun away and walked out of the room as he responded, "It doesn't mean anything. And don't worry about your foot. It's only a flesh wound. You'll be just fine. Thanks for your help."

When he came back out of the room, Ethan walked in on Benji applying the fake blood to the right side of Brandt's head and neck as Brandt was saying, "What exactly is in this stuff? It smells awful."

"But it smells like blood though, doesn't it?" the tech answered. "When I said that it was fake blood, I didn't mean that it was all fake. Some of it is real blood, though not human blood."

"What are you talking about?" Brandt asked nervously. "What is it?"

Benji replied, "It's cows blood, but it's not all cow blood. There's lots of other stuff in it to give it the perfect effect."

Will responded, "That's gross, Benji; really gross. One day, you're going to have use some of this stuff you make for us and then you'll know what it's like to be in this position. Ethan, I say next mission, we make Benji put his neck out in the open for a change so he can see how it feels."

"Sounds good to me," Ethan said as he smiled.

"What, but I'm the team's technician?" Benji retorted. "I'm supposed to be on the computer. You're not serious, are you, Ethan?"

Ethan answered, "Why not? It's good to change things up from time to time."

Benji looked back at Brandt and replied, "You're all set. If you want to see me trying to do what it is you guys do, don't get yourself killed out there today, all right?"

"It's nice to know you care," Will responded. "Thanks a lot, Benji."

"No problem," the tech said. "You guys would never be successful if it weren't for me. You know that, right?"

Ethan nodded as he agreed and answered, "Yes, we know. Let's go. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can finally get back home."

Benji replied, "I can't wait! I hate it here in Russia."


	9. Chapter 9

Against All Odds

Chapter Nine

Around nine o'clock that morning, Luther's team arrived outside of the estate and sat in the car far enough away so that they wouldn't be caught, yet close enough so that they could surveillance the area for any sign of Dimitri. However, as expected, the only people in sight were at least ten men with loaded guns keeping an eye on the place. As they finished, Luther dialed up Ethan's cell, informed him of their findings, then started the car and drove away after the team leader ordered them to join them in town outside the bar, where Dimitri in fact was, just where Fyedka said he would most likely be.

Ethan parked their van down an alley, about five blocks away from the bar, and waited for Luther, Zhen, and Declan to arrive. Once they did, Ethan finally put on the mask, as Benji set up his surveillance equipment. When finished, Ethan looked and sounded exactly like Andrei Vasiliy.

"Are you sure you are ready to do this?" Ethan asked Brandt, as he was the one on the team taking the most risk. "You don't have to. We can find another way to bring Dimitri down."

"No, I told you before; I'm fine," Brandt answered as Benji cuffed his wrists together. "I need to do this, Ethan. It may not be my fault our first plan failed, but I didn't stop him back when I first discovered he was a traitor like I thought I had. My entire team back then was in Vasiliy's pocket and I had no idea."

Ethan looked down, then back over at his friend as he replied, "All right, we're going in as planned. Luther and Zhen, you ready?"

Zhen responded, "We're ready."

"Good," Ethan said, then turned to look at Declan. "Head inside and order yourself a beer. You get to play a depressed tourist, who just got dumped, and are there to get drunk."

"Lucky me," Declan answered glumly. "I'm going in."

As their Irish friend left the van, Benji quickly said, "So, Will, just so you know, these handcuffs are trick handcuffs, so that when the fight breaks out, or should you need to sooner, you can break yourself free."

Will nodded and replied, "Thanks, Benji. Oh, and Ethan, you will need to know that Dimitri is Andrei's nephew. No one, but the two of them knows that they are family. Vasiliy revealed it to me in the interrogation because he honestly believes we'll all soon be dead."

"Understood," Ethan responded and then smiled. "Why is it that the bad guys always underestimate us?"

Wearing glasses, a Hawaiian shirt over a t-shirt, khaki shorts, and tennis shoes, Declan casually walked inside and took a seat at the bar as he looked at the bartender and spoke up saying, "I'm going to need a tall glass of beer, Mate. And when I say tall, I really mean, tall."

As Declan looked at one of Dimitri's men, who came up and sat beside him, he was also observing Dimitri behind him, as he stood beside one of the pool tables, though the camera built into his glasses. Benji was also watching as the camera transmitted what he was seeing onto the tech's computer.

The man sitting beside Declan spoke up as he asked, "What exactly is your trouble, Friend?"

"As a gift to celebrate our engagement, I brought my fiancée home, here to Kiev, so that she could see her family," Declan responded. "However, late last night she called everything off. Apparently, coming home made her remember her lover she had let get away years ago and decided to go back to him. I was a fool and I need a drink; a big one."

"That's too bad," the man replied. "But I am afraid this isn't the best bar for you to get drunk in."

Declan pretended to act innocently as he asked, "And why is that? A bar is a bar; isn't it?"

Dimitri was about to say something, until the door suddenly swung opened wide and everyone turned to see, whom they believed to be their boss, Vasiliy, as he stormed in angrily, followed by two gang members dragging their main target, Will Brandt, between them in handcuffs. Dimitri smiled as he saw that his ex partner appeared to be injured, but then turned to stare at his uncle skeptically.

Ethan quickly kicked Brandt's legs, causing him to collapse to his knees and then spoke up angrily, "I can't believe that none of you managed to find where this scum and his friends dragged me off to and held me prisoner for however long I was in their possession! Each of you are incompetent; you idiots!"

"How did you manage to escape?" Dimitri asked. "And who are the thugs, who came in with you?"

"I broke free of my bonds when their moronic technician came in and loosened them to give me food and water," Ethan answered. "I stole his gun, snuck up on your old partner here, and beat him until he was barely conscious so that I could use him as leverage against the others in order to escape. These two gang members were walking nearby where I was being held. I promised to pay them for their services."

It was then that Ethan turned around to face Luther and Zhen and suddenly fired two shots into both of their chests. Afterward, he quickly turned and did the same to Declan, killing the three of them instantly, as blood splattered up from where they were hit. Brandt jumped in shock at the sudden cruelty of the attack and collapsed to the ground, putting his hands over his head, as the last shot was fired. He stayed on the ground and glared up at Ethan, as well as Dimitri when things quieted down.

Dimitri smiled at Ethan and then looked down at Brandt as he said, "People should not be so gullible when it comes to the promise of money, nor should they be so greedy. Isn't that right, old friend?"

Brandt finally sat back up and glared at Dimitri as he responded, "We were never really friends, were we, Dimitri? At least not to you. You were only at IMF to gain access to government secrets for your uncle here, so that you both could sell the secrets to the highest bidders. And now you're working to help Andrei buy his way into the government. You hope to become Russia's newest dictator one day. You also set up false charges against me and my team in hopes of using the police force here to help you track us down and kill us. Am I right?"

Ethan only stood there when Dimitri nodded, smiled, and then angrily kneed Brandt in his face, causing him to fall back hard on his back. He went on kicking him in his chest and legs, then bent down and punched him twice across his face. Then, he stood up and stomped down with all his force on Brandt's chest once again. The man grinned as Brandt finally cried out in pain and Ethan knew that he wouldn't be able to take much more.

Both Benji and Jane called out to Ethan over the coms, pleading for him to put a stop to them, but he knew that he couldn't do anything until Dimitri and his men were all fully focused on the beating. Otherwise, they were all dead. When the time finally came, Ethan suddenly pulled up his gun and pointed it straight at Dimitri's head. As he did so, Declan, Luther, and Zhen, all sat up from the floor and pointed their own guns they had stashed behind their backs before they walked in at the rest of the men. It was then that Jane broke into the bar with her gun raised as well.

"You are not Andrei," Dimitri said angrily. "You are Will's friends from before and I see you have invited some more guests. I am impressed with your plan, but you cannot honestly think that you have won, do you?"

Ethan pulled off his mask and the voice patch over his throat as he spoke over his com asking, "Did you get all that, Benji?"

The technician answered, "I got it, Ethan. Now get the hell out of there."

"We recorded everything, Dimitri," Ethan replied. "Your confession, as well as your beating of our agent. We sent the video out to the police in order to clear our names of all charges you made up against us. You, your men, and your uncle are all going down for good."

"I don't think so," Dimitri responded as he suddenly dropped a smoke bomb to the ground in front of Ethan, causing a distraction, enough so that a fight between the agents and Vasiliy's men broke out.

Benji jumped as the first shots were fired and ran out from the van to help his friends. Once Brandt got his breath back from the beating, he broke free of his cuffs and joined in the fight as he struggled to fight against two of Vasiliy's thugs. Declan moved in front of Dimitri to stop him from running and managed to disarm him, but it wasn't long before the traitor overpowered him and knocked him unconscious.

When Dimitri stood, he saw that Ethan's back was to him and quickly pulled out a derringer from inside his jacket. However, as he took aim and fired, Brandt suddenly shouted Ethan's name and shoved him out of the way, taking the bullet to the left side of his chest, just below his shoulder, causing him to fall back to the floor for good. Dimitri smiled, pulled out a cell phone and placed it on the bar, then disappeared out the back door, leaving the rest of his men behind to be finished off by IMF. His bullet hitting Will instead was perfect.


	10. Chapter 10

Against All Odds

Chapter Ten

As soon as Brandt collapsed to the ground after being shot, Ethan quickly knelt down over him in attempt to help him, but then looked up toward Dmitri and when he saw the man turn and leave the bar out the back, Ethan took off running after him as he called out for Jane to take care of him. She rushed over and knelt down above Brandt as she placed her hands over the wound, followed by Luther. Zhen ran over to Declan to make sure he was all right, while Benji just stood where he was and stared down at his friend in shock at what he had just done. All of Vasiliy's men, whom they fought against, were either dead or unconscious.

Jane looked into Brandt's eyes, as he was still barely conscious, and softly said, "Just hold on, Will. You're going to be all right."

Brandt struggled as he started to ask, "Dimitri…?

"He's gone, but don't worry about him," Luther replied. "Ethan's gone after him. He'll find him and we'll make him pay."

"Luther's right," Jane agreed. "For once, just focus on yourself right now."

Zhen finally managed to arouse Declan and after helping him up from the floor, the two of them walked over to stand beside Benji as the team's technician asked fearfully, "How is he? Is the wound bad?"

Jane answered, "There's no outgoing wound through his back. The bullet's still lodged inside. It isn't bleeding much, but…"

"But it's lodged in his chest and a chest wound is bad, no matter what," Benji responded. "I got it. We need to get him to a hospital."

"We can't do that," Ethan said angrily as he suddenly took Luther's place beside Will after running back inside, while Luther ran off to move the van just outside the bar.

Benji asked, "Did you catch him?"

"No," Ethan grumbled. "Scumbag got away."

Declan asked, "Why can't we take him to a hospital? If we don't get him help, he'll die!"

Ethan quickly looked up at Declan, then back down at Brandt as he replied, "Because our names are still not cleared, but even when they will be, Dimitri has friends in high places, including with the police, and God knows where else. We can't trust anyone besides ourselves."

"I think that I can remove the bullet, but it's going to hurt like hell," Zhen answered quickly. "Our first aid kit doesn't contain any morphine or anesthesia. And his wound may not be bleeding much now, but believe me, it will."

"Do it," Brandt responded as he looked over at her. "I trust… trust you."

Ethan looked out the door as Luther pulled up in the van and then said, "We need to get out of here. It won't be long before the police arrive. Can he wait until we get back to the factory?"

Zhen replied grimly, "Possibly."

Luther came back over and took Ethan's place, as he and Jane gently lifted Brandt from the floor and helped him into the van. Ethan, Zhen, Declan, and Benji started to follow out behind them, until suddenly a phone rang, but quickly realized that it wasn't any of theirs. It was then that Ethan spotted the phone on top of the bar.

"Hunt," Ethan answered gruffly as he picked up the phone. "What do you want now, Dimitri? Didn't get enough pleasure from shooting your target?"

"Actually, I did enjoy it," the man responded smugly. "Quite a bit actually. I was aiming at you, but I have to say that I am very pleased my old partner took that bullet for you. He's braver than I remember. It couldn't have worked out any better."

Ethan asked angrily, "What the hell do you want, Dimitri? Out with it!"

Dimitri replied, "I called to let you know, as a courtesy, the bullet inside his chest; it's tipped with a poison for which only I know where to find the antidote. I had these bullets made special for times such as this. Will Brandt will die slowly and painfully, assuming that he doesn't die from infection or the loss of blood, unless you set my uncle free and hand over the boy, whom I'm assuming is still alive, to me. I'd say you've got about thirty-six hours. I'll be in touch."

"Is he serious?" Benji asked as he had heard the conversation over the com. "Well what are we going to do? We can't let him go or give up the kid."

"I know that!" Ethan said angrily as he slammed his hand down on top of the bar. "Can the technology we have send a blood sample back to IMF?"

Declan looked at Ethan and asked, "What are you thinking Ethan?"

Ethan answered, "By now the poison will be in his bloodstream. If we can get a sample to IMF, they can run a test and find out exactly where we can find the antidote. Is it possible?"

"I think so," Benji responded. "But it's going to take time and you heard that monster. We don't have much."

"Then let's get going," Ethan replied. "The police can take care of things here."

While they were in the van, Benji was able to send IMF the results from a sample of the blood he had taken from Brandt as he had told Ethan that he could. It wasn't long before the teams were back at the factory and once they arrived, they got Will inside as gently and quickly as possible, as he was growing worse the longer the bullet was still inside of him.

Zhen got to work on removing the bullet as soon as their medical supplies and bandages had been pulled out. When she ripped open Brandt's shirt, his teammates gasped when they saw the cuts and bruises forming across his chest due to the beating he had received earlier and found that at least two of his ribs were broken.

"My God!" Ethan said as he looked down at his friend. "I am so sorry that I didn't stop him sooner."

"Just don't let… let him… get away," Brandt answered. "You have to stop him… for me. Please."

Ethan squeezed his hand and looked directly into his eyes as he responded, "You have my word, Will. He will pay for this and everything that he's ever done. Just stay with us. Do you hear me?"

Brandt only nodded and closed his eyes as he prepared for what was about to happen. Benji stayed by his computer in another room and worked to find out what the police were up to, involving them. He couldn't take what was about to happen. Declan went in to check on both Vasiliy and Fyedka and then came back in to be there for his friends. Jane took out a small towel she had brought with her from her bag and put into his mouth for him to bite on during the procedure.

Ethan stayed on one side of Brandt and Luther on the other as the two worked together to hold him down, while she cut into him and dug for the bullet that was lodged pretty deep. As Zhen had said earlier, his blood began to flood out of the wound as soon as she began and Jane used several of the teammates' shirts to sop up the blood to help keep as much of it in as possible.

Sweat poured off of Brandt as he cried out from the overwhelming pain and tears fell from the corners of his eyes, while his friends kept trying to encourage him to hold on. Ethan and Luther both felt their hands were about to break as he held onto them with what little strength he had left. Toward the end of the operation, he finally fell unconscious, for which they were grateful that he could have some kind of relief, no matter how brief it would be. By the time Zhen found the bullet, pulled it out, and stitched up the wound as best as she could, it had been over three hours since she had begun.

After she finished, she used the top of her wrist to wipe the sweat from her own brow and said, "He's lost too much blood. He needs a transfusion soon, but I don't think we've got the equipment we need to do it."

"Then, we'll break into the hospital and steal what we need," Jane replied firmly.

"I'm going in with you," Benji responded as he walked into the room. "I haven't done much to help. I can monitor the security cameras and watch your back."

Ethan nodded and answered, "All right, but do it fast and be careful."

Jane stood as they both nodded and left. Ethan stood as well and then walked out to go and speak with Vasiliy, while he waited impatiently for IMF's results from the blood test. Declan stayed behind with Zhen, as the two of them wiped down Brandt's body with warm water to try to lower his fever that was slowly beginning to rise. They also worked on wrapping up the other numerous wounds and bandaged his ribs, hoping that the broken ones were not as severe as they feared they might be.

It was about forty-five minutes later when Benji and Jane returned from the hospital. Luckily, they never ran into any problems, so they were able to steal what they needed and get back to the factory quickly. When they walked in, Ethan was pacing back and forth, while Zhen was sleeping in Declan's arms on the ground beside where Brandt lay, still unconscious. He gently woke her when Benji and Jane came in and she got to work right away to start the transfusion, which Brandt desperately needed, as he was now extremely pail from the loss of blood.

As she worked, Ethan angrily said, "We won't be bringing Dimitri back home with us along with Vasiliy and the kid. I'll kill him first."


	11. Chapter 11

Against All Odds

Chapter Eleven

About two and a half hours after Zhen had finished with the transfusion, Brandt slowly began to come around and whimpered as he felt the pain come flooding back. Ethan was sitting on the ground nearby, trying to get some sleep, as he and his teammates have hardly slept since the beginning of their mission, but he awoke when he heard Brandt's cry and slowly moved over beside him.

When Will finally opened his eyes, he found Ethan kneeling over him. Ethan gave a small smile as he gently placed the lower part of his palm on his friend's forehead to check to see how high his temperature had risen. Despite Zhen's efforts, nothing was helping to bring it down, as the poison in his bloodstream had begun to take effect on his system.

Ethan moved his hand away and looked down at him as he said, "It's good to see you awake."

Brandt tried to get up as he asked softly, "Ethan? What happened?"

"You fell unconscious when Zhen worked on removing the bullet from your chest," the older agent answered as he pushed Brandt back down to the floor. "Everyone's out in the other room trying to get some sleep. Just try to relax. You had us all pretty worried there for awhile. You shouldn't have taken that bullet for me."

"I had… had to,' Brandt responded. "You would have done… the same."

Ethan looked away and replied, "You have nothing to prove to me. We all would give our lives for each other. As agents, as well as friends, it's what we do."

Brandt spoke up again saying, "How long do I have… before the poison takes… it's toll?"

"About thirty hours," Ethan answered. "I didn't think you knew."

"I still had the earpiece in… when you talked with him… on the phone," the analyst said. "I may have been… out of it, but I heard about… the poison."

Ethan responded, "We're going to get the antidote, Brandt. And we will find Dimitri."

Brandt looked up at Ethan and said firmly, "Stop Dimitri, but don't… risk lives to… for me. You can't…"

"If you think we're going to let you die in order to protect ourselves, then you don't know us at all," Ethan replied. "I don't care how difficult it will be to get it. Neither do the others. By the time this mission is over, I hope to get that ingrained into that thick head of yours."

"Be careful," Will answered and then closed his eyes as he slowly lost consciousness once again.

Ethan stared at his friend for a few minutes, then grabbed the water and towel Zhen had used earlier to wipe down his forehead and body, and began to wipe him down to try to make him more comfortable. He knew that it wasn't much help, but he couldn't just sit there and do nothing while Brandt suffered because of him.

Out in the other room, everyone had fallen asleep within the last couple of hours. Benji had been the last one to do so, as he was busy pouring over his computer to try to help Brandt in any way he could. He fought to stay awake, but eventually he gave in to the exhaustion he felt from the lack of sleep.

However, the sound of his computer beeping loudly suddenly caused him and the others in the room to jump wildly, waking them abruptly. Each of the teammates stood as Benji looked at the computer screen and then began to type madly on the keys. After a few minutes, he stood and began to cheer.

Jane, Declan, and Zhen only stared at him, while Luther asked, "Why on earth are you dancing around like that for when now is hardly the right time?"

Ethan walked out of the room just as Benji quit dancing and picked up his computer to face it toward everyone and answered, "Sorry. Uh, the blood test results just came in. I got a little carried away."

"And what does it say?" Ethan asked impatiently.

"Oh, right," Benji responded. "The name of the poison is paliophy… ditto… uh well, it is something really long I cannot pronounce and as we all suspected, the antidote for it is very rare and practically non-existent. However, a pharmaceutical company here in Kiev is the only place in the entire world that actually manufactures it, as the poison was first created there as well.

Declan spoke up saying, "It appears that Vasiliy and Dimitri have friends there in the company as well."

Ethan replied, "They have friends everywhere. It doesn't surprise me that he has them there as well. How tight is the security?"

"It's exactly as you would expect from a pharmaceutical company that creates poisons and their antidotes," Benji answered as he once again ran his fingers over the keyboard. "I have hacked into their web site, as well as the blueprints of the building, and security is extremely tight, as are their security systems. If we are going to break in to get the antidote, which I can see from the expression on your face that we are, it is going to take time to make a plan."

"Can you hack into their security systems and cameras and take control of them?" Ethan asked again.

Benji looked at their leader in surprise as he asked, "Who do you think I am? Of course I can take them over. After all, I am…"

Ethan cut him off as he responded, "Good. We have a little over day to pull this off; maybe less and it won't be long before his symptoms begin to grow worse. His fever's gotten two degrees higher in just the last hour."

It was then that the cell phone left by Dimitri at the bar began to ring. Ethan pulled it out from his jacket pocket and looked at each member of his team. He rubbed his free hand over his face and took a moment to calm his composure, before answering it, as he could feel his anger begin to rise.

"What do you want now?" Ethan asked angrily.

"How is Brandt?" Dimitri asked in return.

Ethan coolly answered, "He's hanging on. I won't ask again, what do you want?"

Vasiliy's nephew responded, "I wanted to know if you've made your decision on whether or not you're going to set my uncle free and hand Fyedka over to me."

"It seems I have no choice," the team leader replied. "Where do you want to make the trade?"

"You really do care about your team," Dimitri said smugly. "You've made the right choice. I will call you back with the destination around noon tomorrow."

Ethan spoke up firmly saying, "I will trade the kid and your father for the antidote, but only as long as you keep your word that there will be no tricks on your end? Do I make myself clear?"

Dimitri answered, "You have my word."

"You don't actually believe he'll keep that word, do you?" Benji asked.

"No, of course not," Ethan responded. "That's why we're making our own plan."


	12. Chapter 12

Against All Odds

Chapter Twelve

Ethan and the rest of the team were getting ready to leave for their latest mission. It was early in the morning and the sky was still pitch black. The team realized that if they were going to pull off stealing the antidote from the pharmaceutical company, they were going to have to do it at night, when the security was cut down to a ghost crew.

As they were gathering their gear together, Jane walked out from one of the factory's rooms, followed by Fyedka, as the boy was rubbing his sore wrists from being tied up for as long as he had been. He looked around at the crew and then stopped his eyes on Ethan, who slowly walked over and stood directly in front of him with a serious look on his face. Fyedka couldn't help, but feel terrified of him.

Ethan spoke up firmly as he said, "Jane convinced me that I can trust you to be set free so that you can look after our friend for us in the other room. We're all needed for this mission, but someone has to be here with him."

Fyedka looked at Jane, then looked back and Ethan in surprise as he replied, "I'm grateful that you trust me enough to cut me loose, but I'm not a doctor. What can I possibly do to help him? Jane told me Dimitri poisoned him. I can't…"

"We're only asking you to help by giving him water to drink and when his fever spikes, we need you to wipe him down with the water and towels we have set beside him," Ethan interrupted. "Zhen just finished changing his bandages, so you shouldn't have to worry about him bleeding out. I need to know right now that Jane is right and that I can really trust you not to find a way to call Dimitri for help because if not, we will throw you back into the trunk of our car, just like we'll be doing with Vasiliy."

"That won't be necessary," Fyedka responded. "I'll help you. Being tied up in that dark room alone gave me a lot of time to think. I am still not so sure about how to feel toward my father, but I do realize I was a fool to trust the wrong person. I owe you all for that."

Ethan nodded and walked away, followed by Benji and Jane. Zhen and Declan stayed behind to finish packing their bags, while Luther walked into the other room where Vasiliy was being held, untied him, dragged him outside to their car, and shoved him into the trunk as Ethan said they were going to. That way, he wouldn't be left there to tempt Fyedka to walk in to confront him.

When he was sure that the three of them were alone, Ethan turned to Benji and spoke up saying, "Did you do what I asked you to do?"

The technician answered, "Yes, I put a sensor down at the bottom of the door that leads out of the factory, which will alert me if the kid decides to leave. I also put up a camera in all of the rooms, so that I'll be able to keep my eye on the kid. If he does anything suspicious, I'll alert you all to the threat and pray that we're able to get back here in time to help Brandt. However, I really think Jane's right about trusting him. He seems sincere to me."

"Benji, remember the time when you trusted that eleven year old girl at the street fair on our mission to Germany a few months ago?" Ethan asked smugly. "She ended up robbing you blind when you took out your wallet to buy her an ice cream cone."

"That's right!" Benji recalled as he became angry. "She stole my wallet right from my hand and ran off. Maybe you're right. I'm not exactly the best judge of character."

Jane replied, "But Benji was right. Fyedka won't let us down. At the very least, he's afraid that if he were to call Dimitri for help, the monster would no sooner kill him in order to eliminate a threat against him and his uncle."

Ethan agreed as the three of them left the factory and drove off in the van toward the pharmaceutical company, while the others followed after them in the car. Fyedka watched as they left and then slowly walked into the room where Will was laying on the floor, with a blanket draped over his body and one of Ethan's jackets under his head. He saw that Brandt was awake as he walked over and took a seat on the ground beside him.

"You've made the right… the right choice to help… us," Will said softly as he smiled at the boy. "Your father… will be happy… happy to have his son back."

"I'm sorry I got you all involved," Fyedka responded. "I should have known. I didn't like or trust Dimitri at all and he was my uncle's closest friend. Jane tells me you and him were once friends?"

Brandt answered solemnly, "I thought so. He was… always smug, but… I still thought he was… good. Finding out I was wrong really… hurt my confidence… in my abilities. I've made… a few big mistakes… since then."

The young man looked down at Brandt and asked, "So how do I make it up to my father? How do I make up for what I have done? I called him a coward to his face and ran away to work with Andrei Vasiliy."

Will rubbed his hand over his forehead and face as he replied, "Keep doing… exactly as you're doing. You… are helping us… to defeat... them. Your father will know…"

Before Brandt could finish, he rolled over to his side and began to cough uncontrollably and when he finally finished, he looked down at his hand he used to cover his mouth and found that was speckled with blood. He had hoped that Fyedka didn't see it as tried to wipe it off on what was left of his now torn shirt, but when he rolled back over onto his back, he saw that the kid knew.

"It looks like… I've got less time… than Dimitri said… I did," Brandt continued as he slowly struggled to sit up and move back up against one of the posts inside the room with Fyedka's help. "I need you… to do me a… a favor."

"What can I do?" the boy asked.

Will replied, "I'm not sure how much… how much time I have, but… I know that I can't… I can't just do nothing… nothing to help the others. I need you… to grab me the bag over there… and place it down… beside me."

Fyedka asked again, "What exactly are you planning on doing? You're in no condition to help anyone. Your fever is getting even worse the longer we sit here and if you try to move anymore, your wound will not only become infected, but it will also start to bleed again. I can't help you much if that happens."

"All I need is the bag for now…," Brandt said. "I want to hear… what my friends are doing."

"They're going to be fine," Fyedka answered as he placed the bag down on the ground beside Will. "You couldn't possibly be of any help to them in your condition."

Brandt slowly dug through the bag until he found an extra com and placed it in his ear. Everything was quiet as he expected it to be, since they had just left the factory only a few minutes ago and were still driving toward their destination. Then, he grabbed Ethan's jacket, slowly and shakily put it on, dug through the bag once again, pulled out a syringe, and put inside one of the jacket's pockets.

Fyedka stared at him as Brandt looked back and responded firmly, "This is just in case… they run into trouble. I have… have to help… help them if they… need me. I have to try. I need you to call me… a ride."


	13. Chapter 13

Against All Odds

Chapter Thirteen

Disguised as a pizza delivery man, Declan casually strolled up to the front doors of the pharmaceutical lab with a large pizza in his hands and began to knock on the glass. The guards sitting behind the desk in the lobby stood and both walked over to the door in order to speak with the surprise stranger and turn him away.

One of the guards was the first to speak up in Russian as he said, "I'm afraid you've made a mistake, Friend. No one has ordered a pizza here at this hour."

Declan spoke up, also in Russian, as he responded, "I don't know what to tell you. I received an order from one of your friends up on the sixth floor. If you let me in to use your phone, I can call back my boss and find out what is going on."

"I'm afraid that…" the other guard started to say until he was cut off by his partner.

"Relax, Frank," the first guard replied. "This guy just wants to use the phone to correct his mistake. Come on in."

As he followed behind the guards to the desk, Declan answered, "You're a good man. If I lose this job, I am dead."

The man responded, "No problem. Just make it quick."

"No problem, Mate," Declan replied in his own accent and language as he set the pizza up on the counter, then quickly ducked and covered his eyes as he tossed two flash bombs, one in front of each of the guards.

The men cried out and covered their eyes as they were suddenly blinded by the flash, but within a few seconds, they were both knocked unconscious as Declan stood and kneed one of them in his face and knocked him down with the back of his hand, then punched out the other one, as they were both too busy trying to see again.

After he finished, Declan smiled as he walked over to the door and opened it up, as Ethan, Zhen, and Luther walked inside. His three teammates walked right past him as they quickly began to set up the gear they needed for the next part of their plan, while Declan got to work on tying up the two guards and moving them over to behind the desk.

"What, no praise for my work?" Declan asked Zhen as he was expecting her to say something about his fight with the guards.

Zhen stopped what she was doing for a moment and with one word answered, "Nice."

Declan looked at her and responded, "Nice? That's all you have to say?"

"Yeah, it's nice work," Zhen replied. "What did you expect?"

"Can we get back to the task at hand please?" Ethan said in an exasperated tone. "Why can't the two of you just get married already? You'd save us a lot of frustration."

Declan asked, "How did you… never mind; sorry."

Ethan walked into the elevator as he placed the com into his ear and turned to look into the video camera above him, then called out to Benji, who remained inside the van, and asked, "Are you ready out there, Benji?"

"Of course I'm ready," the tech answered. "Why do you always doubt me?"

"You know you're the best, Benji," Ethan replied. "Now start it up and let me know when the rest of the guards make their appearance. The rest of you guys; be careful."

The others responded in unison, "Got it!"

Benji spoke up saying, "I'll be careful too. Don't worry about me here in the van. I'm sure I'll be just fine."

Ethan ignored Benji's rant as the elevator began climbing and he quickly got to work on taking out the screws keeping the escape hatch in the top in place with one of his many gadgets in the bag he carried with him. Once he was finished, he pushed the hatch open and as quickly as he could, climbed out into the elevator shaft and remained on the top after replacing the hatch once again.

Once the elevator reached the seventh floor, where the antidote was secured, and the doors opened, the four guards keeping watch inside the room looked between each other as they saw the elevator was empty, and two of them slowly stepped inside. As soon as they did, Benji closed the elevator doors and sent the elevator back down to the lobby. The guards inside tried to stop it, but couldn't. Once it finally stopped, they were greeted by Luther and Zhen, as they both took the men out with a punch and kick to the face.

Once the elevator started down, Ethan jumped up and held onto the cables. As soon as the elevator started down, Ethan called out, "Now, Benji!"

Benji quickly opened the doors on the seventh floor once again and Ethan tossed inside another flash bomb in order to confuse the remaining guards, then he jumped from the cables and into the room and began to take them out. As soon as they were down, Ethan cuffed the unconscious men to a metal pole in the middle of the room and then headed toward the lab that contained what they had come for. About fifteen minutes later, the elevator came back up and Luther, Zhen, and Declan stepped out.

"We took out the guards on the rest of the floors," Luther said as he walked up to Ethan as he continued searching the lab. "Did you find it yet?"

"The antidote isn't here," Ethan answered as he looked back at his oldest friend in surprise.

Benji called out into the com as he asked, "What do you mean it isn't there? That isn't possible. I checked to see if anything has been removed from the lab and if it was, I would know about it."

Ethan looked at his friends and replied, "Something's wrong. They knew we'd be here. We need to get out of here."

"But what about the antidote?" Declan asked. "What about Brandt?"

"I'm afraid that without this, Brandt isn't going to be alive for much longer," Dimitri said as he and four other men walked into the room from a second elevator from the other side of the room.

Ethan glared at the man as he quickly mumbled to Benji, "You were supposed to warn us if anyone was coming."

Benji check over the footage from all of the building's cameras, including the camera inside the camera inside the elevator the men just came up on and found nothing, as he responded, "I would have if there was a way I could have known, but Dimitri has somehow bypassed my commands and possibly looped the footage. Actually, I have no idea what he did. What do you want me to do?"

"Your technician friend will be joining my old friend in a grave very shortly," Dimitri spoke up again after his men worked on disarming Ethan and his team, as they were now surrounded. "It's time we have a talk before I kill you."

As soon as Benji heard that Dimitri had sent a few of his thugs to come and get him, he quickly picked up his gun, left his post as it was useless, and stepped outside with his gun raised, but as soon as he did, the gun was knocked from his hand and he was knocked to the ground by the butt of a larger gun to his stomach.

Benji looked up to see two men standing in front of him, one of whom was now holding his own gun as he had lost his grip of it when he had been hit. The technician held up his hands as they were about to shoot him, until both of them suddenly collapsed to the ground on top of him.

When Benji managed to push the thugs from off of him, he looked at them and found that there were tranquilizer darts in their backs. He looked up and saw Brandt standing in front of him, or barely standing as he was leaning up against Fyedka. The agent smiled down at him until he slowly began to fall to the ground.

Benji quickly rose from the ground, rushed to his friend's side, and he helped Fyedka move Brandt into the van as he cried out, "What on earth are you doing here and with the kid? You look terrible!"

Brandt struggled as he answered, "I had a feeling… you were in… trouble. Looks like I was… right, but… I needed help to get here."

"Well, you're right," Benji replied. "I mean the others are in big trouble and right now I don't have access to any of the systems in the building thanks to your old pal, but you're hardly in any condition to help. I need to go up there and help them somehow, but…"

"You just get to work on regaining control," Brandt said as he pulled over Benji's bag beside and quickly pulled out the one thing he needed to go in to help the others."

Benji saw what he pulled out and quickly responded, "Brandt, you can't do that. It may give you what you need to pull this insane idea of yours off, but it will also majorly increase the pain your feeling right now and will probably escalate your time of death."

Brandt held up a gun containing a shot of adrenalin to the right side of his chest and answered, "My time of death… is already much sooner… sooner than we thought. The least I can do… is save their lives… their lives… before I go. I don't care… about… about the antidote anymore. I need… need your help, Benji… please."

"Fine," Benji responded solemnly as he looked down at his friend. "Just promise me you will be careful."

"I will," Will said firmly. "Take care of the kid."

Benji nodded as Brandt shot the adrenalin into his chest. He couldn't help but cry out in pain from, not only the injection, but also from the pain from the bullet wound as it increased just as Benji said that it would. However, the adrenalin also gave him the strength he needed as he got up out of the van and ran toward the building, where his friends were about to be killed by his old enemy. He wasn't about to let that happen.


	14. Chapter 14

Against All Odds

Chapter Fourteen

Ethan only continued to glare at his enemy as Dimitri walked up to him with a smug look on his face, pulled out the com from Ethan's ear, dropped it on the ground, and then crushed it under his foot as he said, "You won't be needing that anymore. Your friend on the outside will be dead any minute now, if he's not already."

His men followed suit as they also did the same to the rest of the IMF's team's coms, while Ethan replied, "You underestimate our team. That will be your downfall. You knew we'd be here for the antidote?"

"I suspected you and your team would come here while it was still dark," Dimitri answered. "By now, you probably know that I lied about how long Will has before the poison kills him. It won't be long now and the antidote is locked away in a secure safe for which only I've got the code for. I figured that you would do whatever it took to try to save him and that if you did your research, you'd see that Andrei is part owner of this pharmaceutical company. Where else would I get my hands on a poison as complex as this one? If our roles were reversed, I wouldn't trust you enough to make a deal with you either."

"I'll admit, I underestimated you as well," Ethan responded as his anger increased. "You realize, if you kill me and the rest of my team, your uncle is dead too. Even if you kill one of my men, your uncle is dead. That includes our technician. How much do you really care for him?"

The IMF traitor grew angry as he replied, "I love my uncle, as he made me the man I am today, but he also taught me to do whatever it takes to accomplish what you have set out to do and if that means a sacrifice must be made to be rid of my enemies, then so be it. Goodbye, Ethan Hunt.

The other members of his team struggled in their captors' grasps as Dimitri raised his gun to Ethan's head and prepared to fire, but before he could, another shot sounded from behind them, as the bullet ripped through the top of Dimitri's left shoulder, causing him to fall back roughly to the ground. As the shot distracted the guards, Luther, Jane, Declan, and Zhen lashed out and worked to fight each of them off.

Ethan quickly turned in time to see Brandt standing beside a tall stack of shipping crates toward the back of the room with his own gun raised before he suddenly ducked behind the crates as more of Vasiliy's and Dimitri's men ran in and opened fired on him and the rest of his team. Dimitri shouted for his men to kill them all as he struggled to get up to join in the fight, while he looked to find Will, as he had seen him as well.

Zhen worked to fight off two men as they attacked her, as did Jane and Luther, while Declan took out three others by shooting them until they were either dead or unconscious. Brandt shot another attacker, then moved out from behind his cover when he saw that Jane was in trouble, as he pulled off one of the crates from the stack and broke it over the man's head. As the man fell unconscious, Jane turned to look at Brandt and suddenly took a shot at a man that had slowly snuck up behind him. When he saw this, he turned back and nodded at her before returning to the fight.

Ethan fought through others while he worked to make his way through the fight to get to Brandt, as he could see that he was beginning to lose strength. Dimitri saw this as well and unfortunately, made it to Brandt first, as he suddenly knocked the gun from his hand, and then struck him hard across the face, causing Brandt to fall hard to the ground. However, Brandt lashed out quickly by kicking him in the chest and then rolled over to try to reach for a gun on the ground nearby, but Dimitri was on top of him as he began to strangle him before he could.

What little strength he had left was quickly fading as Brandt struggled to remain conscious in his old partner's grip. It was then that Ethan suddenly came up from behind them and broke another of the crates over Dimitri's back in order to stop the man from hurting Brandt any further.

Brandt remained on the ground as he tried not to lose consciousness, while Dimitri quickly regained his balance and turned his anger on Ethan. The two of them were evenly matched as they both fought with all they had. After several punches and kicks toward the both of them, Ethan grabbed a hold of his shoulder where Brandt's bullet had struck him and squeezed in hopes of weakening him, but Dimitri managed to knock Ethan back as he suddenly managed to pull out a knife from his belt and slashed it across Ethan's chest, leaving a large gash behind.

Ethan knocked over the stack of crates on top of Dimitri to block the man's path as he tried to attack with the knife once again. It was then that Brandt pulled the syringe he had taken out of the bag at the warehouse from his pocket and suddenly called out to Ethan as he tossed the syringe directly to him. The crates falling over him was enough of a distraction so that Dimitri didn't see Brandt throw the syringe to Ethan and once he caught it, Dimitri lunged toward him once again, but as soon as he was close enough to strike, Ethan suddenly thrust the needle into his neck and drained the syringe's contents into his bloodstream.

Dimitri staggered back against the wall more out of surprise than in pain as he shouted out, "What have you done to me?"

"I filled the syringe… with my own… contaminated… blood," Will answered as he slowly began to lose consciousness, no longer feeling the effects from the adrenalin.

"The poison is now in you, Dimitri," Ethan said as he quickly looked down at Brandt in concern and then turned back to Dimitri.

Zhen finally knocked down her last attacker for good and quickly rushed over to kneel beside Brandt to try to do what she could for him as she noticed that his stitches had broken open and his blood was soaking out though the bandages. Jane and Declan knelt down on his other side as they gently helped Zhen to lay him down on the floor, while Declan put as much pressure as he could down over the wound.

Luther walked over toward the safe and then looked over toward Ethan, who continued to look at Dimitri, as he asked angrily, "What is the code to open it?"

Dimitri glared as he responded, "I won't help you to save him."

"I suggest you give me that code if you want to live yourself!" Ethan shouted in his face as he grabbed him by his jacket collar and shoved him up harder against the wall. "Give it to me!"

"I am dead anyway," Dimitri replied smugly. "If not here, then in prison. I will die first."

It was then that Dimitri suddenly put his derringer, the one he had used to shoot Brandt with before, to his temple and pulled the trigger, killing himself instantly. Ethan stepped back in shock as he let the scumbag's body fall to the ground in a heap. He looked over at Luther and then raced over to kneel down in front of Brandt, who was now barely conscious. As he began to cough severely, the three of them noticed blood trickling out from the corners of his mouth.

Zhen quickly said fearfully, "He doesn't have much longer. We're losing him, fast."

Ethan noticed he was wearing his com and shouted, "Benji! I need you to get up here now and get this safe open!"

"I heard everything," Benji answered as he ran out of the elevator that just arrived on their floor and hurried over to where Luther was standing in front of the safe. "I would have been here sooner, but I had to gather my equipment and then I ran into a bit of trouble down in the lobby. It was nothing I couldn't handle."

"Stay with us, Will," Ethan whispered as he placed his hand on Brandt's cheek. "It's not over yet. "Don't you dare let that monster beat you."

As Brandt suddenly fell unconscious, Declan shouted out, "How's it going over there, Mate?"

As he was using his computer to hack into the safe's data to get the code, Benji shouted back, "I've almost got it! Wait, I've got it!"

"Then open it," Luther said callously as he yanked on the door himself and reached in the safe to pull out the syringe containing the antidote. "Here it is, Ethan."

"How do we know if this is really the antidote?" Jane asked as Ethan took the syringe and slowly and carefully injected the needle into Brandt's neck, emptying out the liquid from inside the syringe.

Ethan responded solemnly, "If it isn't, then he's dead anyway. We don't have a choice, but to give it to him and hope for the best."

About nine hours later…

Ethan, his team, and Fyedka were all safe inside the jet that IMF had chartered for them and were on their way back home. Except for the boy, each of the teammates had tried to sleep during the beginning of the flight, as they were all worn out, but they all had found that they had too much on their minds, as this mission had not only been wearily exhausting, but emotionally exhausting as well. They had come far too close to losing one of their own, but luckily they had given him the antidote to the poison just in time to save him. However, he had yet to wake and would no doubt be in for a long recovery, also impart because of a nearly fatal bullet wound to his chest. If it weren't for Zhen giving him another blood transfusion before their flight, using Declan's blood, Brandt would have bled out and the antidote wouldn't have mattered.

The mission had been accomplished, as the director of IMF had expected. Andrei Vasiliy had been turned over to the proper authorities, the boy was finally safe back home with his father a few hours after the jet had landed, and Ivan Piotr has finally agreed to testify against the man, who one day dreamed of being Russia's next dictator; a dream that will never come true thanks to Ethan and his team.

It wasn't until six days later that Brandt finally woke up. When he did, he not only found Ethan sitting in a chair beside his bed, but was surprised to find his wife, Julia, sitting in chair beside him as well. When they saw that he was awake, the two of them smiled and Julia stood as she bent down and gently kissed him on his cheek.

Brandt looked up at her as he touched his hand to his face and roughly asked, "What's going on?"

Ethan stood up beside his wife and looked down at his friend as he answered, "You're in a hospital back home, here in the states. We finished the mission and won, mostly in thanks to you."

"I got to speak to my husband over the phone when he returned home and he told me about how you saved his life over there," Julia continued. "He also told me about how you were there for us in Croatia. I wanted to come here and thank you in person, for everything. It's because of your team and all the work you've done to take out the threats against us that I've finally been cleared to come home."

"I'm glad," Brandt responded before he suddenly became serious and turned to look up at Ethan.

Ethan knew exactly what he wanted to asked as he said, "Dimitri is dead, Will. After I took him down, he killed himself. He wasn't too happy with your plan, but I was proud. Just promise me that you won't ever be so careless with your life again. We were lucky to have saved you in time. You are just as important to our team as the rest of us and you can't keep blaming yourself for things that you have no control over."

Brandt replied, "I promise."

"That's good because if you ask me, what you did back there was brave, but incredibly stupid," Benji responded as he, Jane, Zhen, Declan, and Luther all walked into the room carrying balloons and flowers.

"I texted them as soon as you woke up," Ethan said as Brandt looked over at him in surprise as to how they knew when to come to visit. "They were worried about you."

Jane spoke up saying, "It's good to see you awake and finally looking better. How are you feeling, really?"

Brandt answered, "I'm good, really."

"Good," Benji replied. "Because Brassel's been itching to send us on our next mission and we've refused to go without you. If you're not out of here soon, we'll all be looking for new jobs."

"Thank you guys, for everything," Will responded. "I owe you all."

Zhen spoke up as she said, "You don't owe us anything. You saved us too. It'll be a pleasure to work with you again."

Declan agreed, "Zhen's right. Just give us a call and when you're out of here, we'll all go out to celebrate!"

"Sounds great," Ethan answered as Brandt nodded.

"Take care of yourselves," Luther replied as the three of them walked out of the room, leaving Ethan's team and his wife alone.

Jane turned and kissed Brandt on his head and then responded, "Get some sleep and get better quickly. We've got a lot to celebrate once you're out of here."

Julia and Benji said goodbye to him as they turned and followed Jane out, while Ethan stood there, turned to Will, and said, "If you need anything, don't hesitate to give me a call. Thank you again, Will. I mean it. Be seeing you?"

"Yeah," Brandt answered. "I'll see you soon. Thanks again."

"It's what we do," Ethan replied. "We fight for each other, against all odds."

The End


End file.
